US Army to get new self-propelled howitzer after 20yrs of waiting

The M109 Paladin Integrated Management, or "M109 PIM," is slated to begin low-rate initial production by 2013. The 40-ton, next-generation 155mm Howitzer artillery cannon is able to fire precision rounds, accommodate additional armor protections and power more on-board electrical systems. (Image from Wikipedia/www.army.mil) / Wikipedia

The US military is about to receive its first new artillery piece in two decades, with the M109A7 PIM (Paladin Integrated Management) self-propelled howitzer to be unveiled on Thursday.

The hardware represents the US Army’s “new approach to
acquisition, in which expensive, ambitious, all-new designs give
way to incremental, but still substantial changes to existing
platforms,” Sydney Freedberg, Breaking Defense website deputy editor, said.

According to Freedberg, a source in the Congress told him that
M109A7 PIM “is not a truly new vehicle in that it borrows
from others, but still a success.”

PIM is a long-awaited arrival for the US military as experts
warned of American artillery being outmatched by competitors
after the cancellation of two of its next-gen self-propelled gun
programs – the XM 2001 Crusader and XM1203 Non-Line-of-Sight
Cannon.

The facade of the new howitzer looks similar to its predecessor
the M109A6 or even the original M109 self-propelled gun from the
1960s.

But Freedberg stressed that “PIM is more like surgically
transplanting someone’s head onto a new body: It takes the old
gun turret and installs it on an all-new chassis.”

UK-based contractor BAE Systems, which developed the new
howitzer, also stressed that M109A7 is more than just upgrade of
an already existing hardware.

“M109A6 built a new turret and put it on the old chassis.
M109A7 put a new chassis under the A6 turret, with a few upgrades
to the turret, and effectively in two steps the Army built a new
howitzer,” Mark Signorelli, BAE Systems head of combat
vehicle programs, told Breaking Defense.

Despite PIM receiving a new electronic gun drive system and an
improved automated loader, its canon 155/39 mm will remain
unchanged.

The gun is capable of firing four rounds per-minute, including
M982 Excalibur precision munition with range of 40km.

The M109A7 turned out to be 25 percent heavier than its
predecessor, with the new model generating 50 percent more
horsepower and almost four times as much electrical power.

The PIM project is being praised not for combat qualities, but
primarily for its cost-efficiency.

According to Military-Today website, the new self-propelled gun
“shares engine, transmission, tracks and some other
components with the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. Such
commonality allows to reduce production, operating and
maintenance costs.”

Earlier, Signorelli told Defense News website that one “could
take a driver out of a Bradley, drop him in a PIM, and he'd be
just as at home, whereas before it was a completely different
vehicle."

The US military plans to purchase 580 sets of PIMs, which are
expected to remain in service until 2050.

The first deliveries are expected to arrive later this year,
while full-scale production will only begin in 2017.